What I’m reading: Nora Roberts’ ANGELS FALL

Can I just say one word… WOW!

Oh, and, WOW!

I have long been a fan of Nora Roberts’ work, hmmm, maybe addicted is more like it, so when I recently purchased ANGELS FALL I knew I would be in for a treat. When I bought the book (as well as Linda Howard’s UP CLOSE AND DANGEROUS and Nora Roberts’ DIVINE EVIL–love that title!) I was still in the process of finishing my latest manuscript so I held these three beauties in check to be indulged in as a reward for finishing my book. I was not disappointed.

Not only is Nora Roberts’ ANGELS FALL the winner of the 2007 Quill Book Award (did I say, WOW!) it is a bloody great read (please excuse my outburst.) Ms Roberts has created a wounded soul lead character, Reece Gilmore, and without making the reader feel sappily sympathetic towards her, has enabled the character to become strong and believeable while being incredibly vulnerable at the same time. And then there’s Brody, swoon. He brings new meaning to the term ’strong silent type’ in my book.

As far as the mystery goes I was really drawn in. In the initial stages of the book I had my suspicions as to just who the culprit could be. By the final third I’d narrowed my suspect list down to two and it was only in the final pages that I figured it out before it was revealed to the reader. I love it when that happens :-). I hate to ’solve the crime’ too early and I hate the ending to come as such a surprise that I feel cheated I haven’t been fed vital clues to solve the mystery myself. Full marks from me on this book.

As far as the romance goes I loved every minute of the character development and the romantic development between Reece and Brody. The evolution of their trust in one another and their growing attraction is skillfully crafted.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

The sole survivor of a brutal crime, Reece Gilmore has been on the run, desperately fighting the nightmares and panic attacks that haunt her. She doesn’t intend to stay in the sleepy town of Angel’s Fist one second longer than she needs to, despite its friendly–if curious–inhabitants, and the irresistible attraction of local writer Brody. However, on a hike into the mountains she witnesses a couple having a vicious argument that culminates in murder. By the time Reece finds Brody and brings him to the scene, both killer and victim are gone.

The police disbelieve her story, and Reece must put her trust in Brody–the one person who does believe her–to find the murderer before it’s too late…

I always feel somewhat spellbound when I read a Nora Roberts book and I hate coming to the end because that magical sense of being bound by a silken web to the story finishes. Its hard to pace myself through the book because I just want to devour every word she’s written but I also want to make it last and last for as long as possible. Thank goodness Ms Roberts is such a prolific writer because I know that with every NR book I pick up that spellbinding promise is there for me and thank goodness also that this time I had the good sense to pick up two NR books so I still have one to look forward too.